Publication Date: Friday, February 18, 2005
Paly boys shift focus to CCS after perfect hoop finish at home
Paly boys shift focus to CCS after perfect hoop finish at home
(February 18, 2005) by Keith Peters
After giving a postgame chat to his team in 24 previous outings this season, Palo Alto boys' basketball coach Peter Diepenbrock figured his team had heard it all.
Actually, not quite. Diepenbrock caught his players off guard like only one opponent this season following Tuesday's 82-42 SCVAL De Anza Division-clinching victory over visiting Mountain View.
Since the contest was the final regular-season home game for Paly's senior class of Nathan Ford, Martin Mouton, Brian Baskauskas, Greg Walder and Amar Miglani, Diepenbrock pointed out a special accomplishment.
"I just happened to point out that the seniors were undefeated at home for the past two years," Diepenbrock said. "They said, 'What? I really caught them by surprise."
Few teams have caught the Vikings by surprise this season, a remarkable 24-1 campaign that includes an 11-0 mark in the De Anza Division. Paly is 7-0 at home, having outscored the opposition by an average of nearly 22 points (67.5 ppg vs. 45.8 allowed).
In two seasons, the Vikings are 17-0 at home during the regular season and 49-5 overall. Despite his teams' impressive accomplishments, Diepenbrock said the he and his players don't dwell on them.
"We don't talk about it much," Diepenbrock said of his current record. "We just talk about the game and what we can do to get better. It's a pretty subdued group, but we have pretty high expectations."
Palo Alto will close its regular season at Mountain View tonight at 7:30 p.m., then shift its focus to the Central Coast Section playoffs that begin next week. The Vikings likely will be the No. 1 seed in Division II, where the team last won a section crown in 2003. Paly won the Division III title in 1996 and a D-3 crown in the school's storied 1993 state championship season.
Against Mountain View on Tuesday, it was just another typical Paly performance. The team started slow (16-14 after one quarter), but then turned up the tempo as Steven Brown provided the spark.
"Steven Brown got hot and hit three 3-pointers in about 45 seconds," Diepenbrock said. "He heated up very quickly."
Brown, a 6-foot-5 junior forward, finished with a team-high 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting while Baskauskas added 24 on 11-of-16 shooting and 6-4 junior Martin Mouton contributed 12. Junior guard Jeremy Lin had a season-low two points, but attempted only one shot. He did contribute 10 assists. Paly pulled away by outscoring Mountain View 46-21 over the second and third periods.
In the Peninsula Athletic League playoffs, Menlo-Atherton (14-11) advanced to the semifinals today (4:45 p.m.) against Woodside at San Mateo High following a 52-48 win over host Menlo (17-6) on Wednesday night.
Dan Trautman's 27 points and 10 rebounds led the Bears offensively, but Trautman's defense on Menlo scoring leader Blake Schultz proved just as valuable. Schultz was limited to just three points in the second half and finished with 11. Beau Heidrich led the Knights with 13 points.
In the Christian Private School Athletic League playoffs, top-seeded Eastside Prep (23-6) played North Valley Baptist on Thursday for the league playoff title at Eastside Prep at 7 p.m. North Valley Baptist upset No. 2 seed Mid-Peninsula (17-7) on Tuesday night in double overtime, 64-60.
"We went seven of 21 from the free-throw line," said Mid-Pen coach Curtis Haggins, "and that was the ball game. We controlled the whole game and was up by 10 at one time."
Mid-Peninsula senior center Walter Washington led the Dragons with 24 points while sophomore guard Jamar Williams added 12.
Eastside Prep, meanwhile, beat Mountain View Academy, 64-40. Tim Johnson led the Panthers with 21 points, eight rebounds and four steals.
In the Private Schools Athletic League, league champ Sacred Heart Prep (15-0, 19-5) moved to within a victory of its third straight undefeated league season with a 69-52 triumph over visiting Fremont Christian on Tuesday night. Pat Coffey's 23 points and a season-high 20 points by Michael McMahon paced the Gators.
Josh Raskoff scored a career-high 25 points, but it wasn't enough to prevent Pinewood (5-10, 8-13) from dropping a 55-49 decision to visiting Valley Christian-Dublin.
Gunn (4-8, 11-14) likely has played its final game. Four straight losses, including Tuesday night's 51-45 De Anza Division setback to visiting Milpitas, probably are a good indication for the Titans not to petition to gain entry into the playoffs. Gunn sophomore Peter Jordan led the Titans with 17 points, but couldn't get the ball late in the game when it counted.
Girls basketball
Second-place Palo Alto (8-4, 18-9) survived its final tuneup before CCS with a 48-43 win over visiting Saratoga on Wednesday night in De Anza Division play.
"It was closer than we would have liked," said Paly coach Amy Stock. "Saratoga has really improved. To our defense, we had three people sick this week and they were dragging last night. The illness that is going around has definitely hit our team."
Fortunately for Paly, junior Megan Grant continued her solid play, finishing with 20 points.
"Megan Grant has really stepped up her play and has done extremely well," Stock said. In the past few weeks, she is averaging 17 points and game and is really playing with a lot of confidence. We need her to keep that up going into CCS. She is our go-to player right now."
Also in the De Anza Division, Gunn (4-8, 6-14) closed its season with a second-straight victory as senior Jill Klausner scored a career-high 24 points in a 54-34 romp over visiting Milpitas. Jessica Perricone added 12 points for the Titans, who knocked off host Homestead last Friday.
In the PSAL, Pinewood (10-0, 20-5) capped another unbeaten league season with a 59-43 win over visiting Redwood Christian. Senior Daniela Roark played in her final regular-season home game and led the Panthers with 14 points. Liz Altmaier and Sami Field-Polisso added 12 points each for the defending CCS Division V champions.
Sacred Heart Prep (17-11) advanced to the semifinals of the West Catholic Athletic League playoffs with a 51-49 win at St. Francis on Tuesday night. Senior Jessica Pecota led the Gators with 17 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out with two minutes to play. Freshman Hannah Stephens made two free throws with 1:15 to play to give the Gators a three-point lead. Free throws by Stephens, Kim Culpan and Isa Dillingham clinched the triumph. Senior Emma Hoffacker contributed 12 points and five rebounds to the win.
In the West Bay Athletic League, Castilleja (8-4, 14-9) dropped a 68-56 decision on Tuesday at league champion Notre Dame-San Jose (11-0) despite getting 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists from Lindsay Taylor. Senior Mika Peterman added 16 points for the Gators, who bounced back Wednesday to beat host ICA, 52-18, as Peterman and Nikki Perlman combined for 26 points.
E-mail a friend a link to this story. | 
